User reviews

This film, while no film great (or even genre giant), is oddly entertaining. The acting and direction are pure mid-to-late-80's B-movie cheese, but somehow the ridiculously convoluted plot and hysterical performance by George Kennedy make this film a good time waster-especially if you've got a few friends who appreciate this sort of crap.

In the eyes of the majority of splatter fans across the globe, John Carl Buechler has always played second fiddle as a serious contender for king of the horror crown. Despite Roger Corman crediting him as 'the best in the business' and being the only make up effects guy to work on all three of the giant franchises (Freddy/Jason/Michael Myers), he never quite attracted the cult appeal that Tom Savini held throughout horror's heyday. As a director he showed potential with kids favourite Troll; but Paramount's stringent censoring of his Friday the 13th sequel (part VII) left the movie ranking among the series' worst. His directorial career pretty much faded following The New Blood's dismal reception and his recent slasher – Miner's Massacre – underlined the fact that he would never share a stall with the likes of Wes Craven and John Carpenter. Demonwarp was my first taste of Buechler as an author and in all honesty I felt quite optimistic. There's no denying that he possesses extreme talent, it's just unfortunate that a few of his greatest moments have suffered under the hands of the MPAA.

Demonwarp chucks everything but the kitchen sink into a horror cocktail that sounds extraordinary on paper. Zombies, aliens, UFOs and a murderous big foot all play a part in a plot that's riddled with gore and mayhem. But it can really only be categorised as a slasher movie, because the majority of the runtime plays almost identically to cult favourite and former video-nasty Night of the Demon.

The opening scene is actually supposed to be set in the 1880s, but we're not told that until much later in the feature. A priest is wandering leisurely along the top of a cliff reciting bible psalms and giving his horse a personnel sermon. (I know that sounds strange, but there was no one else anywhere near him!) As he reaches the peak of the mountain, out of the corner of his eye he spots an unidentified flying object hurtling directly into his path. It crashes down to create a huge crater just a yard from his feet. Despite leaving a chasm the size of a football pitch, the impact doesn't even unbalance the churchman and his trusty mule! Don't forget that this guy is so religious that he even preaches to his horse, so it's understandable that he believes it's the second coming. I'm less convinced.

Transport forward a century to the glorious eighties and things are already looking hackneyed as we enter a remote cabin in the woods. That old hamster George Kennedy must have been in desperate need of a bit of extra 'beer money'; because here he is further degrading his one-time Academy Award garnished status. You can tell that he did this just BEFORE the first Naked Gun job was offered, because that pretty much lifted his career beyond the realms of B movie plop for a few years or so. Anyway here he plays Bill Crafton, an old coot that's just trying to spend a little quality time with his bubble-permed daughter. We can tell that this reunion isn't going to last much longer as soon as we see those classic growling POV shots creeping up the road in front of the cabin. Before you can say 'Friday the 13th', the door flies off the hinges and Julie Crafton is victim numero uno. She gets brutally smothered to death by what looks to be a huge Big Foot creature, whilst her dad's left fighting for consciousness on the floor.

Next up a van full of clichés pull up outside the cabin, presumably for a woodland break, although Jack (a creditable Kurt Russell look-alike) has his own reasons for visiting that particular spot. Apparently his uncle Clem disappeared around that area and so he's brought along some psycho-fodder to help track him down. As if you hadn't guessed Big Foot is still out roaming and he continues his rampage upon the group of eighties space fillers. Will George Kennedy's numerous explosive traps save them? Or will they have to stop the beast by themselves?

Demonwarp traipses through the trappings like a programmed robot for the first hour or so, with nothing to separate it from any other killer in the woods flick from around that time. As soon as scream queen extraordinaire Michelle Bauer turns up only to rip off her top, I knew that this was going to be cheese by the bucket full. But then on the hour-mark things get even sillier as we're given zombies, aliens, satanic rituals and even spacecrafts all in the space of about thirty-five minutes. I won't ruin the plot by telling you how Buechler's story tried to incorporate every known horror icon in one movie; but let's just say that by the end it wouldn't have looked out of place if we had seen cameos from Frankenstein, Dracula and Jekyll and Hyde.

The acting is as below par as you might expect and Kennedy just looks to be waiting for that paycheck to be written. There's a couple of OK-ish gore scenes that brighten things up, which include a gooey head ripping and a disembowelment by stick. Unfortunately there's nothing here that we haven't seen somewhere else before. Emmett Alston fails to lift the shocks above passable, but what do you expect from the guy that directed New Years Evil?

So all in all a run of the mill eighties hack and slasher, despite the promise of everything rolled into one. The ending leaves you wondering just what drugs Buechler was snorting when he dreamt up this little beauty? Average

This overambitious, overlong, sci-fi/monster mish-mash, tries throwing in everything, including the proverbial "kitchen sink". The results are decidedly mixed. George Kennedy is the only semi-competent actor in the film., The hero is annoying and unlikable. The thankfully sparse dialog is completely inane. Finally, the wheels come off with an ending that makes even less sense than the nonsense that precedes it. However, the women are all attractive, and there are ample "boobs" on display throughout. Overall, this is nothing more than a chased in the woods affair. The bigfoot, who is frequently seen in daylight, and the alien/ zombie makeup, is marginally acceptable. It is interesting to note that the same cave featured in "Demonwarp" was used over 20 years later in another bigfoot related film, "Strange Wilderness". - MERK

I rented this movie at Rogers video, and may I say that it was quite alright even if it was made on a low budget, but it would definetely stood a chance at playing in theatres. A neat horror-science fiction gorefest. There's good supporting roles by Billy Jacoby(whom I remembered being a regular for a while in that bland sitcom "Silver Spoons") and by cult B-movie scream queen Michelle Bauer and boy did she ever scream when she first spotted that alien monster and was topless too running away from it. They both had quite good parts. It's a rare video to find, but if you come across from it, rent it! Worth checking out!

This is one of those films whose potential camp value is wrecked by its attempting to not take itself all that seriously...the problem being that its sense of humor is even dumber than the other elements. Some nubile youth (several women with implants take their shirts off throughout) rent a cabin, then get attacked by Bigfoot, or something like. As the survivors attempt to flee back to civilization, other characters turn up just to increase the body (and breast) count.

Eventually there are sorta-zombies, sorta-Satanists, maybe space aliens, I dunno. Which, let's face it, sounds great. But all of it is so limply silly and lethargic, it isn't much fun at all. The cast is so obviously underwhelmed by this material, for once George Kennedy doesn't seem the most bored participant. I don't know how many beers it would take to make this movie entertaining, but you'd probably pass out by the time that mark was passed anyway.

It is everything you would expect from a low budget 1980s movie about aliens that look like Bigfoot. Ridiculous fun, cheap effects and costumes, terrible writing, screaming. It's fun though! A real cheese fest.

Cyborg-vampire extraterrestrial overlords with giant scorpion stingers; shapeshifting Sasquatches on murder sprees; Zombie drones; Demonic cult sacrifices; and loads of totally unnecessary full frontal nudity...Demonwarp has a little something for everyone.

This is one of those totally bizarre, so bad it's brilliant, 80's schlock horror gems that never made it past a VHS release...though it is certainly due for an upgrade.

It starts off like you'd expect your standard "don't go into that part of the woods" film with bigfoots would. But by the time the end rolls around you find that you have been taking in something much more bizarre- and hilariously so!!!

For a while I was worried they weren't going to tie up all the loose ends that were subtly introduced in earlier parts of the film (like the crash of the spacecraft, and inexplicable zombie that makes an appearance half-way through). But alas, I was too quick to judge. I just needed to let it all play out...and when it does...it's gold, baby. Gold.

The overall style and acting are incredibly cheesy- albeit in the most entertaining way possible. Which only acts to compliment the b-grade aura exuded by this epic monster flick.

The special effects and gore tend to be hit or miss. Some parts are as bad as the acting...while others are actually quite well done (like the transformation scenes near the end).

Patently ridiculous storyline aside, the highlight of this production is definitely the monsters. They are actually pretty well done, considering the nature of the film and all. Especially the Bigfoot character...which is badass!

What starts off as a pretty standard "group of kids wanders into the wrong part of the woods" type film, quickly takes a turn towards the bizarre...and that's what makes it so great! The final twist is a bit cliché- but honestly, I expected nothing less. A true cult classic!!! Comes highly recommended.

7 out 10 for creativity and entertainment value. Though it probably deserves far less.

To be fair Demonwarp isn't the worst film I've seen (I've just seen Night Of The Demon and survived) but it is pretty dire. It starts off OK (as many films do) but it soon becomes clear what we're dealing with - a mostly boring and silly film that isn't going very far. Still it had plenty of shots of breasts, a topless woman gets her head pulled off (though this is not as spectacular as it sounds) and a man gets a dismembered hand thrown at him, which is sort of funny. Everything seems to be crammed into the second half, with zombies, a Bigfoot monster and aliens all making appearances. By this time though I was throughly bored and fast-forwarding through most of the tedious dialogue.

Don't bother seeing this unless you're desperate. There are tons of better films out there.

The main reason why I rented this movie was scream queen Michelle Bauer, but it has so many things in it that made me want to buy and I did. For being low budget it has everything a horror flick should have, nudity, gore, some graphic effects and is very fast paced. Rent it, you won't be dissappointed

Its a dangerous business going into the woods in the US. First your got your standard slasher killers, be they scarred, deformed or just plain ticked off at people trespassing on their territory. Then you got hillbillies, inbred or otherwise, and they generally want to kill, eat or sexually violate you (sometimes all three and not necessarily in that order. Then there's Bigfoot. In the 70's Bigfoot movies by and large treated the beloved wood ape as a gentle creature who just wanted to get along. This is because said films were generally made by hippies, who identify with Bigfoot because like them he has long hair and smells foul. But by the 80's all the hippies had either died of too much hair or became investment bankers and Bigfoot started kicking some cinematic ass. Demonwarp is a good example and among the last breath of truly bonkers horror in the 80's, though certainly imperfect. For much of the first half it comes across a distant second to James Wasson's classic Night of the Demon (best film with that name?), there are a few tits and a couple of decent gruesome kills but its mostly set in daylight, sapping its atmosphere, and the pace is less relentless. Fortunately the writers seem to have hit the bong pretty hard before coming up with the final block as the whole thing goes mad. I won't say anything about what transpires because its best to approach with as little foreknowledge as possible. Lets just say its an everything and the kitchen sink approach , and if only the film were a bit less competent it could have been a full on classic of insane schlock cinema. Still, even in the slower first half there's stuff to appreciate. A rather dazed and confused looking George Kennedy does his best to muster up some gravitas as a dedicated hunter. The women are generally attractive and several go topless, including the always awesome Michelle Bauer. The Bigfoot suit is designed by John Carl Buechler and though a bit overexposed during the course of the film its a nicely shaggy and fierce looking creation, imposing enough to be a decent enemy. I wouldn't say any of the lead actors are terribly good but they give it a shot and their characters are just dumb enough to amuse but not dumb enough to infuriate, a happy medium. The general look of the thing is nice as well, not especially evocative like the true backwoods classics, but the locations come across nicely, and director Emmett Alston has a fairly sure hand when it comes to directing the exciting bits. And when the film really gets in gear you'll likely be forgetting most issues that have come up earlier. So all in all this is no great and inspiring work of art, but very much worthy of a watch if nutsoid trash is your kettle of piranhas. Strong 7/10 from me

Ok, I'm a big fan of B-movies and films that are so bad they are funny, but this is just baaaaaaaaaad. The special effects are pretty cool, but only towards the end of the film. The guy in the ape suit is really pathetic. The plot is absolutely dire and the characters... what characters? they are that shallow! Plenty of RGB's (random gratuitous breast shots) but even that can't save this. I wanted the hour and a half of my life back that I wasted watching this garbage, its terrible.

The creators of this film really broke the goofy meter with this one. The movie begins routinely for the horror genre - five twenty somethings alone in a cabin in the woods (Demon Woods no less) with a murderous bigfoot type monster on the loose. Typically, the twenty somethings are slowly killed off and from this point on the flick gets incredibly asinine. Turns out that bigfoot and people in zombie masks are being controlled by a master alien in a Bronson Canyon cave. The zombies bring victims to the slaughter for the alien so it can partake of various body parts (one scene in particular shows one of the topless females on a slab getting her heart torn out and fed to the master alien). And how the hell did George Kennedy get involved with this mess? It always amazes AND saddens me to see fading veteran actors take embarrassing roles like this. Prepare to be astounded and puzzled if you watch this debacle.

Demonwarp is low-budget horror/sci-fi fare, that despite its flaws does end up being a pretty memorable entry into the genre and fairly entertaining. Some of the enthusiastic reviews here, however, sound almost like the VHS box marketing hype... be aware that most of the madcap stuff doesn't happen until the final 15 minutes, and the bulk of the film is a trudging, predictable bore.

The premise for the first 70 minutes is well-worn: a group of teenagers visit an isolated cabin the in woods where a bigfoot-like beast runs amok. Poor old George Kennedy appears as a man whose daughter was taken by the beast and has avowed to seek revenge. It feels sad seeing him reduced to such roles, but whenever he appears onscreen he does bring a touch of class and elevate proceedings. The teenagers are mostly typical 80s fodder, save for Billy Jacoby who brings some pep and personality for the short time he's around. The lead protagonist is very poorly written and woodenly acted, coming across as deeply unlikable, which does sap the spirit of the action. Michelle Bauer turns up to add some scream queen appeal, being chased around the woods topless. Other meaningless characters cycle in and out as prey for the beast and things become fairly rote and dull. At this point I was complaining, "I've not seen one demon, nor anything approaching what could be considered a 'warp'". Well, my criticisms were answered...

In the last 20 minutes the director makes amends by chucking as much weird freaky sci-fi and horror stuff at the audience as he can muster, and all of this was really good fun. Transmutation, zombies, space ships, demented priests practising human sacrifice and a bizarre Davros-like space demon that genuinely looked really good. If you've been paying attention to earlier scenes a few plot points come together in a way that's quite satisfying.

This could have been a lot better with a tighter script and better editing to ensure some pace and urgency. There's a really cool and bizarre story in here that just needed some refinement to really translate to the viewer in an exciting manner; as it is, it's kind of muddled and confusing, but hey - it doesn't all need to make sense and you can just sit back and enjoy this for what it is - silly b-movie fun!

This movie has potential- granted that potential lies in re-editing the movie at random, I'm thinking dadaism meets one awesome music video. Aside from that Demonwarp is obviously a con job perpetrated on the financiers, because who wants to pay for this kind of movie on purpose? As a vehicle for the display of bare breasts, why not merely invest in standard porn? Some guy from Parker Lewis Can't Lose appears as the comedy relief, he is not funny and comes across as a sex-offender. I mean there are half-scenes y'know quarter-scenes even images in this movie that are beautiful and cool, but its fleeting and unintended. I guess if I taught a film class I would use this movie as a teaching tool, I would call it turd polishing.

A group of teens in a cabin in a woods are attacked by a creepy-ass Bigfoot monster, which kills a couple of them. The monster disappears into the night and the next morning they go on a search into the woods to find and destroy it. The name of the forest the carnage takes place in is Demonwood, and it seems many strange events have occurred there over the years, according to some supporting characters. The teens meet up with George Kennedy who's daughter was carried off by the same monster. He's also looking for revenge. A few extras wandering around the woods get slaughtered by the Bigfoot. Some of the murders are gross. Some of the gorier special effects are good. The last 20 minutes comes out of left field and adds another spin on the story, a spin that involves aliens, zombies, and a cultish looking maniac. Not a bad horror movie, it should prove to be a good view by any un-demanding horror fan. The twists at the end are kinda fun, and there are some good grisly moments strewn through out the story. Gratuitous nudity helps keep things interesting and the cast is not all that bad. George Kennedy is fun to watch hamming it up as the vengeance-minded father. Worth a look. Two And A Half Stars.

...some fun anecdotes regarding the shoot, and especially- rarely or NEVER revealed (for low-budget indie films!), info about the financing, production, and marketing of this little gem: "GET TO KNOW ME!"*

Why? Well, although discretion for professional, and legal considerations is necessary in this public "forum", I can say here, (proudly!), that I appeared IN the film, and was kept thoroughly informed on all details of the entire project by its director, EMMETT ALSTON...whom also happens to be one of the coolest humans on the planet!

-ksmyaz

(ksmyaz3@yahoo.com)

*Jon Lovitz (SNL)

My review was written in March 1988 after watching the film on Vidmark video cassette.

"Demonwarp" is a moderately successful sci-fi/horror pic that could have used more sci-fi and less routine horror. Film is going out as a direct-to-video entry, presumably to avoid cutting its gory and sexy material to achieve a theatrical R rating.

A group of teens for the umpteenth time in the past decade is camping at a remote cabin in the woods, attacked by a Bigfoot monster (well-executed by makeup specialist John Buechler, but shown too often to be credible). George Kennedy's daughter was carried off by Bigfoot from the same cabin a while back and he shows up to help the teens fight the unknown.

Farfetched plot peg has Bigfoot turning out to be the creation of space aliens who landed nearby many years back. Pic climaxes with the aliens' stooges sacrificing nubile, topless Earth girls (Michelle Bauer and Pamela Gilbert) to their gooey monster boss. A corny multiple-nightmare ending sabotages much of the buildup effect.

Technically well-made, "Demonwarp" is ultimately an excuse to show off naked women (definitely prime voyeur material), gory makeup and some interesting monster garb. More creativity and less exploitation could have qualified for theatrical usage.